Halloween...In December

I am so behind. Yes, I'm just now posting about Halloween, even though Christmas is right around the corner, shut up.
I absolutely LOVED Halloween this year. My plan was to dress up as Ferris Bueller and Sloan Peterson from Ferris Bueller's day off. You know, I hate that I have to explain this everytime. You should know who Ferris Bueller is, EVERYONE should know who Ferris Bueller is.  Anyways, that plan didn't pan out. Why? Apparently you need to know somebody to get a sweater-vest. Apparently they're a hot commodity. Forget crack, start selling sweater-vests in a dark alley and watch the dough roll in. "No, I don't want your drugs. Gimme the freakin' vest, bro. How much you want for it? No, I'm not wired. What do you mean you're all out?"
It was that bad.
We (my bestie and me) decided it wasn't worth it. (Though we did pick up some valuable contacts if you're ever in the market for suspenders, leather jackets or loafers. Shh! ) We, actually just Bridget, found something comparable if not better.

WE WERE WHO'S!

That's right. Christmas Who's. As in The Grinch. I was Cindy Lou Hoo and Bridget was Bridgey Lou. It was sooo fun. We actually made these costumes, too! Both of our skirts were, once upon a time, little girls dresses. We found them at D.I. As soon as Bridget saw hers the idea to be Who's came to her in a brilliant epiphany. My skirt took a little while to find and actually fit my 11 year old sister perfectly! She wanted to keep it but then I would've been a naked Who, which wasn't cool with me because it was the middle of October. Yeah, it was cold. 

Alright, we had our skirts, then we needed to bling the CRAP out of them. So we hit the Christmas decor section of, you guessed it, D.I., where we found over half of our costumes and Bridget's UH-mazing hairpiece. Its a gold reindeer, yeah, in her hair. IN. HER. HAIR. I'm so proud of how her hair turned out, it was so much fun to do! I practically had to schelack it into place and she told me later she had to shampoo like 4 times. It turned out perfectly!

My hair turned out perfectly too! Thank you pipe cleaners and bobby pins. My hair was a lot harder because of my bangs and all the layers I had put in but my sisters did AWESOME. 

Everybody LOVED our costumes! Surprisingly we were asked what we were dressed up as ALL THE TIME. How? Why? How do you not know? 

Anyways, Halloween was truly amazing. I quit trick-or-treating when I was like 12 and I don't miss it. Not even a little bit. My new unofficial role now is the hair and makeup artist for my little siblings, little siblings friends and whoever else wants it. Its the best!! That was my favorite part of Halloween anyways. I own a candy store, I don't need to go door-to-door to get my fill, lol. 

Speaking of which, Skinny Ninja is up and running and is doing well! We're really starting to get known in the mall and we have regulars, the employees love us! We're starting to get T-shirts and I can't wait to get mine! Woohoo! :D

Yes, you will be able to get them at the store... eventually. You know you want a Skinny Ninja t-shirt. You know you do.

Peace out, my friends.

Holy Chubby Foot Batman!

A couple days ago I was opening the Skinny Ninja and I injured myself :( Actually, it totes wasn't my fault, the shelf that holds all of our candy is set on wheels. It wasn't crazy sturdy to begin with, it's one of the shelves that leans slightly against the wall so it doesn't fall forward, then we put wheels on it. Woop! I'm really excited that we did, and so grateful to my brother-in-law for putting those on but I totally wasn't thinking that when it FELL ON MY FOOT. I was being stupid and pushing it the wrong way when it started to fall over, I did something even more stupid and tried to catch it with. MY. FOOT. That's an expression, I didn't actually attempt to catch a 50 pound shelf with my toes. I was being funny in the 'hah, thanks for catching my fall' way.

Jeez, it hurt like a mother and it was SO swollen! The shelf managed to smash my foot and on the way down it got my left knee and right ankle. I don't think anything is broken or anything, its just crazy ugly. Pretty pimpin' bruises though, I don't lie.

My ankles are not that chubby, it's swollen. Honest.
Even without the shelf falling I still look like I've been participating in an underground kickboxing match.
Rearranging the store has been disastrous to the beauty of my legs. Not that I really mind that much, its totally been worth it, the place looks amazing!
My family has been super generous to us; my uncle (who's passed on) helped us build and repair all of the holes we had in the walls (Seth), my parents came and helped us put in sheetrock and supplied many hands for cleaning and painting ;D my sisters came and helped take down butt-ugly tile all over the walls and clean, clean, clean! My mother-in-law organized the entire backroom and my father-in-law bought us an ice machine and spent countless hours with his sons trying to get everything set up properly. Man, were we ill-prepared. Lol, its been such an awesome learning and growing experience and I really only seeing it getting better. We've been so, so blessed with everybody's generosity and willingness to help out. Even if its just coming and sitting with me during my 12 hour shifts. Its been great! Not the shifts but the people. I will end now with this quote;

"There is no hope of joy except in human relations."
~ Antoine de Sainte-Exupery

You guys bring us so much joy and are so grateful for you in our lives.
Love from the Nydegger Two ;)

Love is my showercap

Warning! This post may be hazardous to the cootie-sensitive readers. Read with caution. ;-P

I have been married since July 23rd of 2010, just a little over a year and in that year I've been happier than ever, sadder than ever and more annoyed than ever. My husband is an amazingly patient man and, though he's several years older than me, he keeps me young. He's very playful and fun! On a bad day he's obnoxious and immature but mostly he's playful and fun. We didn't date for very long before we got hitched (hey, when ya know...ya know, right?) and after we were married it was still like dating but we got to go home together :) It still is that way but we've definitely passed the honeymoon period and when I realized this I was so sad. That new, exciting energy that had been sustaining us through the late night dates and early morning work was gone and replaced with responsibility, dishes and laundry. Our relationship was changing and still is.

And I am so glad.

Yeah, our relationship is different and not exciting in the 'we just met and I like you' kinda way but it's more exciting than ever in a 'I love what my life is with you in it and can't wait for more' kinda way. I loved dating Seth but I'm more infatuated and attracted to him as my husband than I ever was when he was my boyfriend. Which I didn't think was possible because the boy is FINE! It's like any doubts or insecurities I had while dating were completely replaced by this familiarity and closeness that I can't get enough of. His love, his love, his love... Is my drug. ;)

A couple of days ago I did my hair! Get your jaw off the keyboard and continue, thank you. Anyways, I didn't want to ruin my hair by showering, which I do everyday, so I was going to use my handy-dandy showercap! It's purple and has been one of my favorite purchases... EVER. But when we were first married I absolutely refused to use it if Seth was home. I would lock all doors and play no music so I could hear him if he came home. As much as I love my showercap I know I ain't exactly an award-winning beauty when I wear it and I was embarrassed. Obviously he knows I have it "No, baby, my hair is water repellant and is always instantly dry after I shower." Psh, right. He's seen me in it too, much to my chagrin, more and more the longer we've been married. So as we were talking yesterday I went to stuff the enormous amounts of hair I have into said showercap and he, still talking, helped me. Its sounds stupid, I know it does, but at that instant I missed dating no more. Marriage is so much better!
When a guy can hold a meaningful conversation with you whilst helping you stuff hair into a ridiculous, though useful, purple showercap... wouldn't you say that's love?
Yes, dating was fun. Fantastic even. And marriage is even better. Everything is so much... Deeper, more meaningful maybe? I don't know, really. Whatever it is, I thoroughly enjoy it. And I'm enjoying it while getting a full 8 hours of sleep too. :)

Kung-Fu Panda is my frieeeeeend.

Ok, so at the store we have a TV, and on that TV we watch ninja shows. So far we've watched Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan and Avatar: The Last Airbender (all seasons) and, as the title says, Kung Fu Panda. Yes, these are Kung-Fu movies but I do not have any NINJA movies, shut up.
Anyways, I find I am particularly entertained whenever this adorable character comes onscreen:

Why do I like this age-ed turtle you ask? Is it his snarky sense of humor, his perfect comedic timing, the way he rests upside-down and you can't tell where is head is? NO!
Its because he looks like my Grandpa. Dead. Serious. My G-Pa likes to take his teeth out and smile just like Master Oogway does. He's a little less Zen-like and his timing is less spot-on and not nearly as comedic. But the old man ways are the same. I wonder if I could get him to dress up for Halloween.

My second favorite character is Po's dad. The duck? What a freaking funny duck! He is such a lovable character. Just as much as I'd like to hug Oogway and clip his Cuban-drug-dealer long pinkie nails, I'd like to sit in a small but crowded theater and throw money at Mr. Ping (the duck), who will have a glass of water on a stool and a microphone in hand.
I'm saying he could be a comedian. In case you didn't get it.
I think its the man who does his voice. James Hong. Some people just have a voice for comedy. They have been blessed with a voicebox that makes people chuckle.
This may have been a curse for some, like Jay Baruchel (Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon) whose voice, I'm convinced, would cause me to break out in shingles if it were in person. Don't get me wrong, I love the dude! The Sorcerer's Apprentice is one of my favorite movies!  I just honestly think I would convulse if his voice was coming directly from his mouth to my ear without the intervening television set and cute cartoon character.

 I have the same thing with Nicolas Cage, but with his face.

Back to the duck.
I love the ever hopeful look on his face, the vague but persistent jolly-ness, the briefest flashes of wariness and confusion. And the hat. Oh, the hat! I could blog about just the hat. I LOVE his hat. I want one to wear this winter and am seriously considering taking up knitting.

Its a hat posing as a bowl full of noodles. It is a HAT posing as a BOWL OF NOODLES. Can't you see the coolness? Why are these not being sold everywhere across the nation?? If somebody could make me a beanie like this- chopsticks and all- I would seriously wear it all the time. I LOVE it. 

Yes, people would look at me weird all the time, yes, it probably isn't very warm or comfortable and yes, I am craving noodles all the time because of all these Asian movies I've been watching and YES, its probably impairing my judgement... But its a HAT posing as a BOWL OF NOODLES.

Its a HAT posing as a BOWL OF NOODLES.

Its a HAT 

POSING

as a 

BOWL OF NOODLES.

Posing... as noodles...a HAT...bowl of NOODLES...posing.

Let the awesomeness reverberate through your mind.

Evil Eye's, Pinups and Skinny Ninja's

I'll start with the untimely passing of Steve Jobs. What a remarkable man with remarkable vision, he truly changed the world. But you know what bugs me? The logo.

See that bite mark? The one with no teethmarks? What bit that? A fish?

 You know what else bugs me?

Whatever the crap happened to my eye! I have this little white spot above my left pupil that is incredibly irritating when I wear my contacts and downright KILLER when I'm not wearing my contacts. Its like having sand permanently stuck underneath my eyelid. I. Was. Miserable. My poor hubs-hubs probably was too! But its OK now. Don't panic. I inadvertently cursed half the population with the evil from my eye but no one panic.

Anyways, on the the exciting thing; I won a free pinup session with Pinup Jane from the diner where I used to work!! It was SO much fun. So what they do is every month they hold a contest for that months "Norma Jeane's Pinup", you get a free session with Pinup Jane, 2-3 outfit changes and 2 copies of the picture they choose to put up in the diner! The picture was this:

Google is my homeboy

So in our crazy, wonderful, messy, blissful year of marriage the hubs-hubs and I have gone through 3 Internet providers. We've had Clear, Qwest, Century Link ( I know they're the same person but would it sound as good if we'd only gone through 2??) and our latest experiment is with Comcast. In between all these Internet hobo's we've had countless (alright, 2) different routers. Arg!
I almost feel like it hasn't been worth it! Yes, the countless hours of Netflix streaming has been nice. Yes, I am human and therefore addicted to Facebook. Yes, google is my homeboy- I mean homepage. But is it worth it, I ask myself. Do I really need to see that episode of Numb3rs? Do I really have to catch up on old school X-Men? Is it worth the hassle of dealing with a non-English speaking technical assistance rep EVERY OTHER DAY? ...
...
Probably.

Hey, old school X-Men is the bomb.com and I just need to see if Amita and Charlie ever tie the knot or if Don and Warner hook up like I think they should.
Plus, on a more sentimental note, I can Skype with my beautiful nieces or email my cousin on a mission in an instant. The wonders of the Internet give us a new, fast way to communicate with distant loved ones! And that IS worth the hassle of hearing 'And whud iss yore rowder nummer, Seendy?' on a regular basis.


Buuuut it's mostly for the X-men.

Twitter, Tweets, Twits?

Ok, I just got my very own twitter! Everybody had been going on about this thing but I was never attracted until my brother and sister-in-law were talking about one day while we were visiting. "It's going to be bigger than Facebook." He said. "Oh yeah, I use it for fashion, politics, news, recipes, fashion." She's French and talks fast and it all sounded so ooh-la-la!
I have to say I'm underwhelmed. Dare I say disappointed? As far as I can tell (and I am a newbie, so I could be wrong) it's like everybody doing a facebook status update without the unspoken Facebook agreement that you shouldn't update A MILLION FREAKING TIMES A DAY! I was getting up to 6 Tweets from one person an hour! Really?? AND I'm only following like 20 people. This is the trend? To post nonsensical blibbers (like giblets but for words, useless dangely bits of blubber) constantly? Can't say I'm surprised, really. Somehow, somewhere, someday I knew someone would finally create something that would waste peoples time more than... Picking your nose. And least when you pick your nose you end up with an interesting tidbit. Sadly, I have yet to glean anything good from Twitter.

Disagree? Tweet me @CinDNydegger and tell me why.
Peace!